Then there is a quotation from Proverbs to consolidate the point. It is from Proverbs 11.
The righteous are scarcely or hardly or just barely saved. They cannot reach heaven without passing through trials which seem to threaten their safety and call into question their final destination. At times they seem to be on the brink of returning to their old life, or under pressure of persecution to be in danger of denying their Lord. They fall into sins which make them outwardly indistinguishable from unbelievers and bring shame on the gospel. They need severe chastisements which are hard to distinguish from the judgments that fall on the wicked for their destruction. And yet all this is only the appearance, for the reality is that they are named in the covenant of grace from before the foundation of the world; that they are the children of God who is a perfect Father and has never lost one of his children; that they are kept by Christ who has shed his blood for them which must avail at the throne of grace; that the Spirit indwells them and having come into their hearts can never leave them but is the earnest of their inheritance; that unbreakable promises have been given to them which God cannot withdraw without compromising his integrity which is impossible.